Rathdrum is First Idaho City Designated Friendly to Monarch Butterflies

Rathdrum, a city in Kootenai County about 14 miles north of Coeur d’Alene, is the first municipality in Idaho to be designated a place friendly to Monarch butterflies, according to a report by the Coeur d’Alene Press.

The city was designated Monarch Butterflies USA by the nonprofit group of the same name in Maple Valley, Wash. The organization was established in 2015, and encourages cities to take an active approach to attract and help monarch butterflies by planting milkweed and nectar plants, according to the group’s website.

Nearly a billion monarch butterflies have vanished since 1990, according to data released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2015. Monarchs rely on the milkweed plants and nectar plants for their food and home.These plants are increasingly vanishing all across America.

With the designation, cities may host monarch festivals and other events.